


Radio Static

by heyitsnxel



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: But could be read that way if you prefer, Drug Use, Mentions of Death, Not Written as a Ship, Panic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-19 09:35:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18134039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyitsnxel/pseuds/heyitsnxel
Summary: Diego would never admit it, but sometimes he worried.





	Radio Static

Diego would never admit it, but sometimes the static of his stolen police radio scared him. Most of the time it was nothing. A robbery, a shooting, a bar fight. Something he could handle, something he could throw a few knives at and walk away from relatively unscathed . 

But other times, well, it wasn’t nothing.

 

Other times there were dead bodies, drug deals gone wrong, overdosed junkies in the street. 

 

Junkies just like Klaus.

 

And every time, Diego couldn’t help but think it was him.

 

* * *

 

The first time it happened it was raining. It was cold and rainy and windy and Diego was absolutely beside himself with boredom. The radio in his hand was silent and as shit as it was to want, Diego just wanted someone to go commit a crime. He needed to the adrenaline rush of the radio call, the fighting. He needed someone to do  _ something. _

 

And just like magic, someone did.

  
  


“10-54 in the alley on South Lee Street. Looks like an OD.”

  
  


He couldn’t really describe it, the feeling that coursed through his veins, but he did know he never wanted to feel it again. 

 

_ Klaus.  _ Dumb, annoying, drug-addicted Klaus was always on South Lee Street. Diego couldn’t begin to count the number of times Klaus had drunkenly called him for a ride from the bar on the corner, how many times he’d dropped Klaus off at that dirty looking apartment complex on the other side of the street, and now there was a dead junkie in the alleyway right outside?

 

‘Be careful what you wish for,’ Diego thought, shaking his head.

 

There was no hesitation as Diego jumped in his car, tires squealing against the concrete as he floored the gas pedal. It  _ wasn’t  _ Klaus. It  _ couldn’t  _ be Klaus.

 

Klaus was stupid, yeah. Maybe he didn’t always make the  _ best  _ decisions, but he wouldn’t push himself so far as to OD.

 

Would he?

 

What if Klaus really had gone too far this time? Taken too much? What if he finally pushed his limits too far? What if he had been pushing himself too far this whole time and Diego had been too self-absorbed to even notice?

 

He pushed his building anxiety away as best he could. Panicking wasn’t going to do anything except make him careless. The last thing the Hargreeves needed was  _ another _ dead sibling - nonetheless, two in one night.

 

By the time he arrived on the scene, the coroner was zipping up a body bag. Diego felt his heart stop as his eyes landed on the shape beneath it, skipping as he finally remembered to  _ breathe, Diego, breathe.  _ That didn’t stop him from pushing his way past the throng of officers, ignoring their demands to stay back.

 

“Who - I - Who… Who is it?” He stammered, jerking the shoulder of the coroner harshly to turn him around. 

 

The man looked startled, fingers shaking as he let go of the thick plastic covering the dead body a mere few inches away from them. 

 

“No ID,” The man managed the breathe out. “She was by herself.”

 

_ She.  _ If it weren’t for the police pulling him away from the ambulance, Diego would have cheered on the spot. 

 

* * *

 

Diego’s radio was always with him. Whether it was in the passenger seat of his car, hooked onto his belt, or sat on the table as he ate breakfast, it was always there. He’d gotten used to the static breaking through the silence of the night, pulling him drearily out of sleep to another message about a home invasion or gas station robbery. It was just as natural as the traffic outside his window. But tonight, it had been going off non-stop. 

 

It seemed like tonight was the night everyone wanted to cause some kind of trouble. Usually, he would jump at a night like this, at the chance to bounce from crime to crime. It’d be a good outlet for all his  _ pent up aggression  _ as Luther would say. But, he wasn’t. 

 

His body felt heavy. He was  _ exhausted.  _ Tonight was one of those nights he’d just let the cops handle it and catch up on the sleep he’d missed out thanks to all the recently stirred up family drama he’d been dragged into.

 

God, they were so draining. Five with his know it all attitude, always rambling about something that Diego didn’t bother to understand. Allison, well, just being Allison. Vanya’s anxiety always seemed to rub off on him the longer he was around. And don’t even get him started about Number One. Klaus hadn’t been around much lately ( _ lucky him _ ).

 

The radio pulled Diego out of his dreams again, making him curse as he grabbed the damn thing off his nightstand. Before he could flip it off, words were coming through the speaker and sending a chill down his spine. 

 

“We got an 11-44 near Oakland’s. Young male, definitely overdosed. No ID on the body.”

 

Diego’s heart raced, pulling him out of his sleepy haze immediately.  It wasn’t Klaus. Not every dead druggie they found on the street was Klaus. He really needed to stop assuming that. He could roll back over and go to sleep right now. There was nothing he could do. But, damn it, if it was Klaus - laying dead on the street outside of a bar - then Diego was really going to lose it. He hadn’t been around much. Neither he nor his siblings had seen him long enough to tell if he was spiraling or not.

 

Diego dug his fingers into his hair, yanking the strands in frustration. He hated that he worried so much, but Klaus warranted it. Hell, all his siblings warranted it to some degree. But Klaus was well beyond that.

 

His boots sat by the door and Diego glared at them as he went to put them on. By the time he got to the scene, the body had been identified. A young Alex Micheals and  _ definitely  _ not Klaus.

  
  


* * *

 

Luther and Five were arguing. Something about Dad’s old study room and some book that should be there, something to help them all figure out their powers more. Diego didn’t care and it looked like Allison felt the same. 

 

While Diego was absentmindedly tossing a blade into the air, she was picking at her nail polish, mumbling a quiet conversation to Vanya who was by her side. He was almost more interested in whatever they were talking about.

 

_ Almost. _

 

There wasn’t even time to consider joining it and ruining their sisterly bonding before he was being dragged into the conversation. 

  
  


“Diego,” Five snapped. “Are you even listening?”

 

“No,” He admitted with a shrug. “I figured you two idiots would figure it out yourselves. I have better things to do than listen to you fighting all the time.”

 

A small hum of agreement came from Allison and Diego couldn’t help the bit of pride that crept through him at the look on Luther’s face.

 

“Besides,” He continued. “Dad’s dead. Luther’s not in charge just because the old man kicked the bucket. Just walk into his office and grab it.”

 

Luther took a threatening step forward, the glint in his eyes finally giving Diego something to pay attention to. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the police radio that sat on the bar.

 

_ “... To dispatch, we’ve got what looks like a drug deal gone wrong on-” _

 

“Can you shut that thing off? We’re in the middle -”

 

“Shut up!” Diego growled, stalking across the room and snatching the radio to his chest. 

 

_ “Multiple bodies. Paramedic needed at -” _

 

“Diego! Would it kill you to care about your family more than whatever’s happening out there?!” Luther flailed his arm towards the door, his voice booming across the room. 

 

Thanks to Luther’s big mouth, he’d missed the most important part of the whole transmission. 

 

The location.

 

And he’d heard the one thing that always made his head spin with anxiety. 

 

_ Drug deal gone wrong.  _

 

_ Bodies. _

 

_ Paramedic needed on the scene. _

 

Five’s face had shifted from annoyance at Luther to something Diego couldn’t quite place. He was staring at the radio in his hands, eyebrows furrowed, as if he understood. Like, he got why Diego was so focused on the damn thing.

 

In the blink of an eye, Five disappeared in a burst of blue light.

 

Luther was  _ still t _ alking and Diego  _ still  _ wasn’t listening. His pulse was in his ears and he was so beyond angry that he knew if he tried to talk, he’d just stutter it out. Which only served to aggravate him further. With a flick of his wrist, a knife hurled straight past Luther’s head and stuck the wall behind him.

 

Diego left the room without another word.

 

\- - -

 

It had been hours now. The bed in his old childhood bedroom wasn’t comfortable to lay on anymore. Though, he supposed it never was. It was harrowing to be in the house like this again. It wasn’t the first time and it sure as hell wasn’t going to be the last, but having all his siblings under one roof again - and it being the roof of the Umbrella Academy - just made him feel weird. 

 

The metal of the blade caught the light, reflecting on the opposite wall as Diego twirled it between his fingers. He wondered if Five got it. If that look really meant what he thought it did.

 

_ ‘Probably not.’  _ He thought, hurling the knife towards the door.

 

“Whoah!” 

 

The knife flew out the door as it swung open, barely missing Klaus’s head as he swung the door open. It clattered to the hardwood floor by his feet. 

 

“Try  _ not  _ to kill me in my own house, mi hermano. I’d rather not die in this hellhole.”

 

Diego blinked, struggling to find any words to say. 

 

“Whatever,” was what he finally decided on, watching Klaus collapse onto the end of the bed.

 

“Our lovely little brother drug me back here by my ear,” He complained, rubbing the left side of his head. “Literally! I wasn’t even doing anything and then,  _ BAM!  _ Little number Five is in my face and pulling me out of Griddy’s! Can’t a man get a donut in peace?”

 

Klaus’s hands had dropped to his wrist, scratching at the skin harshly. He didn’t even seem to realize he was doing it. Diego watched as the skin broke and little beads of blood surfaced.

 

“... A pink one, right there in my face. Sprinkles and everything. It was,  _ mwah!,  _ perfect and I didn’t even get to take a -”

 

“Withdrawal?” Diego interrupted, eyes still locked on Klaus’s wrist. 

 

Klaus’s fingers twitched to a stop, pulling his sleeve to cover the skin. The silence was heavy before he finally spoke.

 

“Yeah, figured, why the hell not? Don’t you remember that whole ‘Say No To Drugs’ thing they taught back in our school days? Maybe it subconsciously stuck in my head. Tsk, tsk.”

 

“We didn’t go to school,” Diego deadpanned.

 

“True, but! I did watch a lot of sitcoms with Allison and they took place in school. Tomato, Tomahto. Same thing. Still a better education than dear old dad ever gave us.”

 

Klaus hopped off the end of the bed, turning to the corner behind him.

 

“Oh, you wound me! I happen to think I am quite funny, thank you very much.”

 

Diego was no stranger to Klaus’s seemingly one-way conversations. Right now, he found the argument he was in (presumably with Ben) to be oddly comforting. He watched as Klaus flung his hands up, dog tags clanking together on his wrist.

 

“Why don’t you shoo and go pester some other dead people so me and Diego can have some quality bro time.”

 

“Uhh, I dunno! There’s plenty of dead people. Go find that weird lady who used to try to give you flowers when you were a kid. I'm sure she'd love to tell you _all_ about her cats.”

 

“What do you mean she’s not dead? She definitely died.”

 

“I’m not an idiot! Diego!” Klaus abruptly turned. “Tell your dear brother over there that she is, in fact, dead.”

 

Diego rolled his eyes, “Yeah, if you're talking about that Margaret lady, I hate to break it to you, but she’s still very much alive. Still lives down the street.”

 

Klaus gasped, turning to glare at the corner. “Stop laughing at me or I’ll ignore you for the rest of eternity, Benny. Now, shoo!”

 

“Siblings, am I right?” Klaus sighed, propping against the doorframe.

 

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

 

Diego took a moment to glance over Klaus. The same old, stupid Klaus he’d known his whole life… Minus the drugs. It was weird. A good kind of weird, though. He wasn’t naive enough to hold out hope on Klaus’s sobriety. Hell, he’d probably be three lines deep if he had the same abilities as his brother. But the fact he was trying - again - made Diego proud.

 

Of course, he’d never say it outloud. He had a feeling Klaus knew anyway.

 

* * *

  
  


“Diego.”

 

“ _ Diego.” _

 

_ “ _ Diego!”

 

Diego growled, literally growled, at whoever was poking him in the face right now. They were lucky his knives were on the desk and not right next to him like usual. 

 

“Wake up.”

 

Poke. Poke. Poke.

 

“What?! What do you want?” Diego snapped, shoving the blanket covering him off to the side. 

 

“Goodmorning, sunshine! I need your help.” Klaus grinned down at him.

 

His smile was hollow. Even through his blurry vision, Diego saw him fidgeting with the bracelet on his wrist. He was restless, a bundle of anxiety. Adjectives that were more fitting for Vanya than Klaus.

 

“With what?” 

 

Klaus hesitated, a rare feat for someone who constantly speaks before thinking, catching his bottom lip between his teeth.

 

“Have you ever done BDSM?”

 

Now  _ that  _ woke Diego up. He felt his brain kickstart awake and he gaped at Klaus in disbelief.

 

“What the fuck?”

 

“You know, bondage, discipline, sado-”

 

“Damn it, Klaus. I know what BDSM is. What do you want?”

 

“Great!” Klaus clapped his hands together a little too loudly for Diego’s liking. He cringed away. “Ignore the DSM and help me with the B.”

 

-

 

There were going to be rope burns on Klaus’s wrists, but Diego  _ didn’t  _ care. He pulled against the rope until a low hiss came from between Klaus’s clenched teeth.

 

“Kinky,” He tried to joke, but his eyes were dull. Even with the binds, Diego could still see the twitch in his fingers, the slight tremble as his foot tapped against the floor as best it could, the way his eyes flitted around the room, landing on Diego with an expression that made his chest feel hollow.

 

This was for the best.

 

It was okay to leave Klaus up here, suffering, until he sobered up. It was for his own good. Damn it, it was even for Diego’s own good at this point. He couldn’t deal with another internal meltdown at the next druggie they found dead in the street.

 

Besides, it was Klaus’s own choice. Diego was just going along with the plan. If this led to a sober Klaus, then Diego would do it. Even if it was a little weird. He watched Klaus fidget with the end of the rope, humming something softly under his breath. 

 

“Do you want me to stay?” 

 

Klaus nodded.

 

Diego stayed.


End file.
